Thank you to everyone who gave comments and coupons. Chapter 190
60. Magical Beasts and the Pleasures of the Desert
189 – Magical Beasts and the Pleasures of the Desert #1
— Why are you looking at me? You know I don’t have a single penny.
Ever since I became a beast, I was liberated from the capitalist system defined by money, jewels, and gold. Therefore, I felt no greed for those shiny jewels at all.
— I really don’t have a single penny.
“Hmm… I might not have money, but I have something else…”
Azidahaka trailed off in a very small voice. Mole Mogu quickly picked up on the scent of a deal with her hesitant tone.
— If you don’t have money, we can exchange for something of equal value.
— Do I have such a thing? The only thing I have is my fur or some spikes, maybe.
— Spikes, you say?
I plucked one of the spikes growing on my back. This sharp, pointy spike looked like a terrifyingly large knitting needle—at least ten centimeters long!
— This, this is…
Mole Mogu’s face twisted oddly as she received the spike I handed over. While I wondered if something was wrong…
— This, this is truly a rare object. I’m not kidding; this spike has magical energy… Is this kind of spike really growing on a guest?
— How much do you think it’s worth?
— Let’s see…, wow….
Mogu held onto the spike I gave her and waddled off somewhere. When she re-emerged, she was holding a hammer and a small saw.
She set my spike upright on a flat stone slab and began hammering it vigorously.
Bang, bang.
With each blow of the hammer, the sharp spike lodged itself into the rock. Mogu, looking at the partially embedded spike, stroked her chin thoughtfully.
— Good heavens, even with a diamond hammer striking it, it doesn’t bend or lose its sharpness. Wow… To think something like this grows on a body. If I pull it out, will it grow back?
— Yeah, as long as the nutrition is good, it’ll keep growing back.
— The White One could definitely be called a walking mine. Just having this one spike would be enough to set you up with a two-story house in Cairo!
— So you’re saying my spike is valuable?
— Not just valuable, it’s priceless! Just think about the tools we could make from it: everything from simple sewing needles to awls for gem crafting, nails… Hehehe, wow…
Mole Mogu kept marveling, her round face gleaming with greed.
— The beasts of the Eastern Ancient Nest are like this, huh? They have all sorts of rare things… That “Black Pilgrim” who came three days ago had extraordinary hair, but this is really something special…
— So, can we buy those jewels with this spike?
— With this spike alone, you could pay for those jewels the lady is wearing and still have money left over! I might even owe you some change…
— I see.
— But right now I don’t have many Ojimann gold coins left, so would it be okay to give you change in goods? If you want, you can select a few more gems or accessories.
“That sounds good.”
Azidahaka replied sharply for me. Then, she began rummaging through the pile of gems to find what she liked.
“Three… I’ll take one earring… two…”
In the end, she picked two round earrings that looked like rings.
“One of these will go to you, White One.”
— You want me to wear that?
“This is a rare mineral found only in the western desert. It looks yellow like gold, but it’s not. It has amazing effects… Ahem, anyway, it’s good for males.”
With Azidahaka’s explanation, Mole Mogu nodded eagerly.
— That’s very fortunate. It’s hard to put into words, but it’s good indeed. You’re going to share one half of the pair of earrings with your husband, it seems. A beautiful maiden like a mythical creature and a gallant beast with pretty white fur… You really suit each other!
Embarrassed by Mogu’s compliments, Azidahaka scratched her cheek with her finger.
“Then, for the remaining one… Hmm, I don’t want to pick again, so why don’t you choose the last one, White One?”
Azidahaka suggested I rummage through the pile of gems next. Since it was a bit boring waiting for her to shop, I happily marched over to the gems and started digging through them with my front paw.
— How about this one?
What I picked up was a blue gem carved in the shape of a rose. I had no particular reason for choosing it; it just ended up in my paw.
“It doesn’t have any magical energy. It’s well-made, but not something worth giving up something else for.”
— Hmm, in that case, I think I’ll choose this one.
“Oh no, that one has a bad aura. It’s cursed.”
— Hmph… If you want to pick, just go ahead. Why did you ask me to choose then?
I yawned lazily, finding Azidahaka’s interruptions annoying.
“No, no, it’s fine. I really won’t say anything more, so just choose anything.”
With that, Azidahaka finally closed her mouth. Whenever I touched the gems with my front paw, it seemed like she had something to say but held back.
‘They all look the same to me.’
As someone who couldn’t feel magical energy, they were just a pile of pretty, shiny stones. It felt like picking up pebbles along the riverbank.
As I carelessly rustled through the gems, something clung to my front paw like a magnet.
‘What the heck is this?’
*
— Wow, that was really a good deal. I hope to see you again later!
Mole Mogu waved goodbye to Azidahaka and me as we walked away. She must’ve been in a good mood after receiving my spike, as she revealed a secret passageway in this underground ruin that she usually wouldn’t tell anyone about.
‘If we go this way, we won’t have to walk under the blazing sun.’
Walking through the dark and chilly underground passage with Azidahaka, she gently stroked the pearl on the ring she was wearing on her finger. The gem began to emit a soft, bright light.
— Is that the effect of magical energy or something?
“This gem originally shines like the sun when unrefined. It’s a ring made from that, and if infused with magical energy again, it can emit light for a while.”
— Nice buy.
Azidahaka’s eyes, called the “Vision of Spirits,” had a mysterious power that allowed her to see things others could not. Therefore, she was unparalleled when identifying gems, treasures, or ruins.
I felt the weight of the earring dangling from my right ear. Despite its light appearance, it pressed down heavily on my ear like a chunk of metal.
Is this what earrings normally feel like, or was this one special?
‘It must be this one that’s special.’
Words floated before my eyes.
『Name: White One
Species: Magical Beast lv.21
Strength: 83
Agility: 95
Stamina: 75
Skills: 《Omnivorous》 《Sturdy Claw》 《Cursed Phase》 《Stealth Movement》 《Hidden》 《Seduction Dance》 《Interbreeding》 《Fire Speech》 《Mounting》 《Destruction Sphere》 《Flame Heart》 《Roll》 《Bounce Back》 《Vitality Boost》』
The most notable one was the newly engraved “Vitality Boost” at the end of the skills section. Was that what it meant when they said the earring was good for males?
‘An earring that grants a skill, how nice.’
Equipping it meant I could gain new skills, and if I removed it, it would be like losing them again—a lot like magical items in usual games.
‘Now I understand why Azidahaka is so obsessed with gems. If one could gain skills this way, it wouldn’t be weird to have gems and ornaments wrapped all over your body.’
However, it seemed that not every gem imbued with magical energy would grant power or skills to everyone.
Just like in games, where jobs are defined and each job has its own usable items, gems imbued with magical energy were suited for certain creatures while being unsuitable for others. The way to tell was by feeling a mutual attraction, as if they were magnetic.
Normally, I would have laughed off such claims as sales talk, but after experiencing ‘this,’ I felt there might be some truth to it.
I looked at the last gem I chose myself, a rough stone that resembled a boulder.
— Hehe.
I’m not completely sure, but it is said to be an extraordinary find. I could definitely feel something pulsing inside this rough stone, indicating it was no ordinary object.
— Is this the rock that can deal a fatal blow to that Satan guy?
“This stone was passed down only in myths. I really didn’t expect to find such a thing among this pile of gems. I got an enormous gain from just one spike.”
— Great! It was a pleasant transaction. I’m satisfied.
“By the way, did Satan really pass through here three days ago? I hope I’m not confusing him with another beast…”
— They said it was the worst beast, known to mock even gods, number 666. Who else but Satan could that be?
“Indeed. Only Satan would have the gall to mock the gods…”
— If it was three days ago, it’s not as bad as I thought. We should be able to catch up with him easily. If we hurry a bit more, we might even get the jump on him.
“But Cairo is a massive city. With over a million residents, including beasts, stone dwarves, humans, and fairies, it won’t be easy to track Satan here.”
A city of a million inhabitants—quite a significant size, even compared to the modern world I lived in.
In this mystical world, where transportation and communication were limited compared to the era I lived in, a population of a million made for a formidable gathering.
Finding Satan in Cairo, where there was no internet or smartphones, would be as difficult as locating Kim in Seoul.
— Isn’t there any way for your eyes to help?
“If it were simply searching for other mythical creatures, I might be able to, but there’s too much about Satan that I can’t see with my eyes… I’ll probably only see fragmented parts. We have to rely on our own legs. If only we could find a piece of his body or something…”
I shrugged at Azidahaka’s wistful remark.
— You should’ve said so earlier! That guy sold his hair to Mole Mogu, I think.
“Even if we had asked for it, he probably wouldn’t have given it up. Anything from the body of a mythical creature would be considered treasure, and he’d most likely hoard it in a secret place he knows.”
— Gwee-ing.
Yingyi, who had been quietly sitting on my shoulder, began to wiggle his body. Soon after, he purged a thin thread of hair from his body.
The thin thread fluttered in the air. I caught it with my front paw and squinted at it.
— A black thread? What’s this?
— Ying-yi-yi.
— It came off Mole Mogu’s paw? You sensed an unusual aura and brought it?
— Ying.
— I see. So what do you think about it?
I offered the black thread that resembled hair to Azidahaka.
She took it from me, removed the tiara she was wearing, and began glaring at the black hair with her reddish eyes.
“This unpleasant magical energy I feel… The thickness of the curly hair… It seems unmistakable. This is likely Satan’s hair.”
— Gwee-ing.
— Good job! So do you think that one strand of hair will be helpful?
“It’s better than nothing. If we add this to the directional needle we once made using your spike…”
Azidahaka pulled out a flat piece of wood from the small leather backpack tied around her waist. It looked like a compass made from my spike that pointed towards the treasure.
After tying the thread from Satan’s hair onto the tip of the spike, Azidahaka blew on it lightly, and suddenly, the spike began spinning wildly!
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